Obama could cut emissions without Congress, group says

Dec. 4, 2012
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Smoke rises from the stacks of the La Cygne Generating Station coal-fired power plant in La Cygne, Kan. , on Jan. 19. The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, urged President Obama to limit the greenhouse gas emissions from all power plants -- not just new ones as the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed. / Charlie Riedel, AP

by Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

by Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

President Obama could slash one-third of power plant emissions by 2025 without Congress' approval, a major environmental group said Tuesday.

He could save at least $25 billion annually in reduced health and pollution costs by using the Clean Air Act to require that existing plants reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, according to an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The group says the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to set state-specific emissions rates and give states flexibility to implement them.

As nations meet this week in Doha, Qatar, to negotiate a climate change treaty and Obama prepares to begin a second term, the NRDC proposes a new U.S. approach that bypasses Capitol Hill. In 2009, the House of Representatives approved a "cap and trade" bill to limit overall emissions but allow companies to trade pollution credits. The bill died in the Senate.

The group says the EPA, which has proposed limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants, should set rules for hundreds of existing fossil-fueled plants, which it says account for 40% of the nation's carbon pollution.

"We know where the pollution is. Now we have to go after it," Peter Lehner, the group's executive director, said. The NRDC says its federal-state approach would cost $4 billion annually but would save $25 billion to $60 billion each year in reduced pollution-related illnesses such as asthma. By emphasizing energy efficiency and cleaner fuels, it says its plan would cut carbon pollution - compared with 2005 levels - 26% by 2020 and 34% by 2025.

Critics say it's another version of cap-and-trade. David Kreutzer, an energy expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, says it would allow states to trade emission credits across a multistate region - similar to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a non-profit group that holds carbon auctions involving nine Northeast and mid-Atlantic states.

Kreutzer says natural gas production is already driving down carbon pollution and even if the NRDC's plan brought further cuts, China's emissions alone would more than offset any climate benefit.

Carol Raulston, spokeswoman of the National Mining Association, said her group was reviewing the proposal but expected it would mean more coal industry layoffs. She said EPA rules affecting coal-based power generation have cost more than 4,000 U.S. mining jobs.

"There is inherent flexibility in this proposal," Franz Litz, a professor of energy and climate change law at Pace Law School, said at a news conference hosted by the NRDC. He said it would allow states to propose alternatives for how they can reduce their overall power plant emissions.

EPA spokeswoman Alisha Johnson said the Obama administration had not completed its review of the report, so the agency declined to comment. On Nov. 13, EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy said rules regulating the emissions from existing power plants wouldn't occur for at least a few years.